Father uses his own baby as shield during stand off with police

A man kidnapped his own baby and used him as a shield to protect himself during a confrontation with police officers in the United States.

The 27-year-old man named Brandon Loehner was reported to the police by his girlfriend after he took their 1-year-old child from her house in Florida near Palm Coast on September 27.

Police officers spotted him driving recklessly with the baby on his lap. Leohner led them on a chase before stopping in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald's.

In bodycam footage released by the police, he could be seen holding the child in front of him as a shield as the officers advance on him holding tasers. The man refuses to put the child down, even after being asked repeatedly to do so.

The child is heard crying, "dada, dada," in the video as he tries to reach out to his dad.

A deputy managed to grab the child as Leohner was hit by a taser. He could be seen falling to the ground with the baby safe in a police officer's arms. Leohner then tried to run away before he was finally detained by police officers.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said: "Here is a case of a domestic situation turning violent, putting a one-year-old child and innocent drivers in danger."

"Deputies were confronted with a very chaotic situation and a very combative individual that was putting his child at risk by using the child as a shield. Our deputies did everything they could to quickly rescue this child safely from a madman and apprehend the suspect," he added.

The toddler was soon reunited with his mother. Meanwhile, Loehner has been charged with kidnapping, using a minor as a shield, resisting with violence, child neglect, fleeing and eluding, and reckless driving. He is currently awaiting trial without bail.

He was also treated for the injuries he sustained during the brief standoff with the police, according to a report in The Mirror.